ARTICLES
Staying in: Virtual kidnappings in Mexican hotels
Criminals in Mexico have increasingly sought to use hotels for staging virtual kidnap attempts. Erin Drake considers the methods and tactics used by kidnappers to carry out a fake abduction.
Criminals in Mexico have increasingly sought to use hotels for staging virtual kidnap attempts. Erin Drake considers the methods and tactics used by kidnappers to carry out a fake abduction.
Criminal groups have experienced reduced revenue in the Covid-19 lockdown period. As criminals look to bolster their diminishing income in the coming months, they will likely aim to intensify and diversify extortion and kidnap activities, writes Erin Drake.
In recent months, kidnappings have increased in Haiti. Emboldened by widespread political instability, violent protests, and the recent COVID-19 outbreak, criminals will continue to make use of the country’s unstable security environment to step up kidnapping activities, writes Erin Drake.
The Covid-19 pandemic is having an unprecedented impact on people, politics and business around the world. Many governments have introduced lockdowns of varying degrees to contain the pandemic. These measures, enforced by the police and sometimes the military, have brought down crime rates even in some of the most violent countries around the world.…
S-RM asked John White, Head of Crisis Preparation, to give his insights into how businesses should be preparing themselves for the wide variety of threats climate change poses, whether these relate to the resource scarcity, adverse weather conditions, or physical security.
Resource scarcity has historically contributed to – and prolonged – various conflicts, both between states, as well as between communities or groups within states.
S-RM spoke to David Lawson, Deputy Head of Crisis Response, about some of the recent global trends in kidnapping and extortion, and to hear about some of the key considerations for S-RM’s Crisis Response team when they are working on a live case.
Piracy, terrorism and geopolitical tensions have presented persistent threats to commercial shipping in 2019. Despite states’ increased focus on securing shipping routes, the overall number of maritime incidents continues to fluctuate, and has declined only marginally over the past year.
Globally, indigenous populations have been severely affected by environmental degradation and pollution, often caused by companies which operate commercial extraction projects on land historically claimed by these communities.
In 2019, there were an average of more than 9,700 aircrafts in the air – transporting over 1.2 million people – at any given moment. As international travel often brings passengers to new destinations, they may face unfamiliar security dynamics. In fact, in 2019, 68 percent of tourists ranked security threats as their primary concern – above geopolitical…
Active assailant incidents, in which the attacker targets their victims in an arbitrary manner, understandably attract high levels of media attention when they occur at schools. While several such incidents have taken place in recent years including in 2019, they continue to be relatively rare occurrences.
The extractive industry – including mining, oil and gas exploration, dredging and quarrying – is one of the most vulnerable to kidnapping and extortion. Looking ahead to 2020, these industries’ often remote operating locations with limited rule of law, and the perception of industry actors as lucrative targets, are likely to persist as key factors contributing…